


Right Before The Wave Came

by expelliarmustard



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Beach House, Canon Compliant, Coming Out, Complete, Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Friendship, Hogwarts, James Potter Ships Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, Love Confessions, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Ocean, POV Remus Lupin, POV Sirius Black, Quidditch, Requited Love, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Fluff, Sleepovers, Summer, Summer Vacation, Vacation, Young Peter Pettigrew, Young Remus Lupin, Young Sirius Black, implied jily, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:28:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27789739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/expelliarmustard/pseuds/expelliarmustard
Summary: Venture into the pretty little tale of that one stifling summer, at James' beach house, before the Marauders 6th year. Here you will find typical summery things; assorted confessions, vicious pillow wars, board games on the floor, quidditch, and just a colourful splash of romance with the ascendancy to change a life. Or two.This is a four chapter one-shot with alternating points of view. Enjoy.
Relationships: Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	1. The arrival of Remus Lupin

Sirius POV:  
Sirius lay down, raised his chin, and turned his eyes to the sky. The blue was paralysing. It would be weird if it wasn’t the most popular favourite colour. There was a small lonely cloud hovering high above him, looking like it knows that it shouldn’t be there, in such a perfect sky. He raised his arm and traced it with his finger, shifting slightly into the grass. It looked like an artist had drawn it with white pencil, accidentally smudged it, then found they couldn’t erase it properly. It was as if the artist started over in a different sky, somewhere else, forgetting the silly little mistake and leaving it to dwell on its existence, wondering what the fuck it was supposed to be doing. Sirius’ hand fell above his head, landing softly on the grass. It was weird grass. James had told him the grass at his beach house had a thick, bouncy feel but Sirius hadn’t pondered too long on that part of the conversation. He might have, maybe, if only first words of that sweet, sweet conversation (“Oh!! Forgot to tell ya, you’re staying with us this summer mate”) weren't ones that spared him an entire summer free of his demonic family. Oh - and to spend it with James, and Remus and Peter too by next week. That part’s important. And at his beach house too, apparently. Sirius breathed out a sigh. The warm salty air, the heat of the sun, and the touch of the strange, stringy grass on his neck sent an unfamiliar feeling of peace slowly through his veins. It took one dramatic crash of broken glass or plates or something sharp from the kitchen for those peaceful veins to be spiked with fearful adrenaline. Sirius’s legs pulled him upright so fast like he’d been jolted with electricity. His fingers were certainly tingling enough for it to be true. He got to the kitchen, braced for blood, for screams, and definitely not for James to be standing there, lemonade splashed on his crotch, with a shelf full of glasses shattered into shards, collected in a type of transparent crumble on the floor.  
“Are you okay”  
“Yes”  
“Hurt?”  
“No”  
“Good. Need mummy to fetch you a diaper?”  
“Sirius?”  
“That’s my name”  
“Fuck. You.”  
Sirius knew he should probably help, maybe fetch a broom, but the sight of James standing there with the illusion he’d not got to the bathroom in time was a redefined version of a priceless moment. He clung onto the counter like it was his lifeline, holding his body up while it was shaking with laughter. James stared at him, eyes wide with disbelief. Probably at Sirius' lack of loyalty. But soon his tightly pressed lips curved into a grin, then opened to a laugh. Both boys were fully submerged in hysterics by the time James’ Mum entered the room, that they were both unable to communicate the event to her, and the only effective thing she could do at all was scowl, flick her wand to fix the glasses, re-pour lemonade as if they still deserved it, and push them back outside, putting the full glasses on the ground.  
Eventually, their hysterics had reduced to nothing but spontaneous giggles every time they replayed the scenario in their mind. The warmth and brightness of the sun cast a sunflower gold glow on them both, brightening Sirius’ smile even further. James was still standing there in wet clothes that would soon dry sticky. He turned to the door.  
“MUM!! I gotta change!!”  
She was long gone, and the door was very locked.  
He turned and grunted, giving Sirius a fairly solid punch in the arm.  
“Okay, rude-”  
“I look like I’ve pissed myself, and there’s no way for me to change. You. Can’t. Complain.”  
Sirius snickered, picking up the glasses of lemonades they still somehow had, and beckoned James to the grass.  
James followed grudgingly, and sat down next to him, taking one of the lemonades off Sirius and into his hand. He took a sip and looked at the horizon.  
“We'll get back inside soon. Moony should be here in 10 minutes or so”  
“Huh?” Sirius crosses his legs to face James, trying to suppress the strange flutter that suddenly erupted in his stomach.  
"Oh, and Peter's coming sooner than he thought - tomorrow actually"  
“I thought Re was coming next Wednesday?”  
“Nope...”  
“Man.. we’ll have to share the lemonade...”  
James snorted.  
“Now that’s assuming we get the rest too. Hey!’ Take it slow don’t drink it all now, we probably won’t get the rest I just said that”  
But Sirius had just chugged his entire glass, and not all of it made it into his mouth.  
“Such a pessimist you are, gotta have a little hope now and then.” Sirius wiped his chin. He thought drinking all the lemonade at once would fix the uninvited nerves growing inside of him, you know, conquer fizz with fizz, two negatives make a positive. Whatever. That’s muggle math. Obviously, it wouldn’t have worked. He couldn’t even remember where he learnt that.  
“Dweeb. That cloud looks so lonely.”  
Sirius raised his eyes at the sky once again. Oh yeah - that cloud; the one the hypothetical artist stuffed up.  
“Mmm.”  
James turned his head to look Sirius directly in the eyes, a strange expression resting underneath his circular glasses.  
“Is something up?”  
Sirius shook his head and looked down, fiddling with his empty glass, anything to avoid those eyes, because he might just say it.  
“Anytime mate. I’m here, always, and you know you know it.” He grinned, looking at Sirius with squinted eyes.  
“Yu-huh” Sirius replied jokingly as James nodded and flopped lazily onto the grass, arms splaying above his head.  
“...I know,” Sirius said at a much lower volume, almost to himself. He could feel the words catching in his throat. Where had all the fucking oxygen gone? There was a war inside his head. The two different armies were as followed: an alliance between family, fear, denial, judgement, rejection, and then his fucking feelings. Those feelings? Yeah, they’re starting to dominate.  
He could hardly fathom the idea of repressing them much longer, living with them for much longer. Yet it could all go so wrong. It could ruin friendships. But if he didn’t do something about it, that would still happen, just slower, and excruciatingly painfully. He was gonna say it.  
Sirius lifted his head. The fluttering, fizzing nerves had expanded past his stomach and were hurtling through every inch of his body. James was lying there next to him with his hands blocking out the sunlight from his eyes. Sirius couldn’t hear over the heartbeat pounding in his ears, but he was pretty sure James was talking about Remus and him bringing something called scrabble, and what the hell was scrabble. Right, well now what he’s about to say won’t be completely out of context.  
When Sirius didn’t say anything, James propped himself up on his elbows.  
“...Pads?”  
“Yea- just hold on.”  
He held his hand out slightly and vaguely raised his index finger as if to try to stabilise the atmosphere like it would help him somehow.  
James fell silent. The warm breeze from before had cooled slightly. Sirius looked at James lying there patiently. He trusted the other boy with his life, they had promised each other there was practically nothing they could do that would dent their friendship, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to tell him. He was too far in to stop now. It was going to happen.   
“So like - and I’m just gonna tell you okay-“  
“Dude stop freaking out, you’ve gone pale as hell even for you, especially cos it’s been so lovely for like weeks now, actually that's a little weird now I say it, it’s been like a full-on drought that can’t be good for the forests and the ani--“  
“I think I’m gay.”  
The sun was catching on the rim of James' glasses, and Sirius was trying to focus really, really hard on it, like really hard, to try to stop his eyes from swimming with tears. He wasn’t used to being so bad at something. James smiled a brilliant smile, shook his arm lightly and told him how much he supports him, how much he loves him, and how honestly great it is because then he can tell him what exactly makes a guy attractive so he can finally win Lily over. The feeling of relief was crushing but liberating, now he could finally breathe. It was as if the lack of oxygen from before had carried over so now he had double the oxygen than he would normally.  
“Soooo, is there someone?” James smirked.  
“A handsome prince maybe? You must know some royals?” he prodded   
“No prince...”   
“Ah, so a Lord.” James concluded confidently.  
“Maybe a werewolf-” Sirius coughed, which then turned to him choking on air, his lungs shrinking and no longer accepting oxygen.  
James blinked, and Sirius’ bowls turned watery, his ears whirred with anxiety for actually admitting it, as waited for the expression of someone who was surprised, maybe pitying. But this blooming bastard had the audacity to smirk a horrifyingly knowing smile. He already fucking knew… But with the deafening wind in Sirius’ mind, he would worry about that later. Confront him, maybe release a punch for not letting Sirius know, just because it could have faintly eased the dreary internal war.   
But he said it, he said it, he said it. Sirius, sitting on spongy grass on a piece of land on this massive rock hurtling through space orbiting a ball of fire surrounded by a vacuum of nothing, really said that he has a motherfucking crush on Remus Lupin. To his best friend. Who is guaranteed to never let it die until it happens, which is something Sirius really can’t think about right now.   
“Yeah? Yeah, dude!” James squealed, leaping onto his feet.  
“Shoot the fucking shot, please dear god oh I’m so glad you’ve finally realised because both of you have been so unaware but you both go stupid for each other. Seriously you’re besotted with each other the only people who don’t know are both of you -”  
Sirius made an ungodly noise from the back of his throat. James ignored him.  
“-but now you do, and he will - you just - shoot your shot. You’re not gonna miss. He loves you - looks at you like you're it for him, forever. Hey look, my pants are dry now...”  
Before Sirius could even process a single syllable of what James just said, a deafening crack erupted from around the side of the house. Someone had just apparated. Remus. Oh, sweet shit.  
“Ayyyyyy!” James whooped as he heaved Sirius to his feet. Sirius knew James would never tell him if he didn’t want him to, (it was the unspoken promise of a brother), but somehow Sirius was terrified it was obvious just by the sight of him. That’s irrational. He shook himself.  
They ran over to the other side of the house. Remus was standing there smiling at James’ Mum who was already fussing over him and taking his bag in. Remus’ eyes came to rest on the two boys at the corner of the house. He beamed.  
“Moooooonyy!!” Sirius and James bellowed simultaneously.  
Remus laughed loudly as the boys ran towards him, crashing into him with a bear hug.  
Sirius pulled back slightly, grinning broadly, and tugged at Remus’ navy blue woollen sweater.  
“The fuck Remus? It’s like twenty thousand degrees!”  
“Not when my heart is so stone-cold.”  
Why did he make Sirius feel so warm?  
“But blue? Ravenclaw colours? Come on man have a little spirit” James scorned.  
“You’re literally wearing yellow-”  
“And stone-cold heart my ass.” Sirius pressed as James crossed his arms, eyebrows arched exasperatedly.   
“We’ve all seen you after someone in your book gets heartbroken.” He argued, hardly biting back a smile as he remembered the time he spent a whole Saturday afternoon moping under the covers because some character had an unrequited love.  
Remus stomped on his foot, but more softly than he deserved.  
“Did James mum tell you about his little accident?” Sirius asked. Remus raised just one eyebrow (oh god), eyes dancing with mischief, so Sirius started to recount an over dramatised, slightly altered story, ignoring James trying to shove himself and his version in between them in defence, as they walked inside and up to James room.


	2. As the sun sets

Sirius POV:  
“Sirius you’ll need to move your mattress so that it’s parallel with Remus’ one once we get it in here”  
It was way too hot to be wrestling with giant rectangles of cushion in a too-small room trying to make them fit. The room wasn’t that small, it’s just that mattresses are the most inconvenient shape and size to try and organise. You could take a mattress out into a wide-open field and still sweat yourself to dehydration trying to make it “parallel” with another one. It’s not like they lasted very long. Actually, it would surprise most at how quickly this reasonably straightforward task - turning a couple of mattresses around slightly, had within minutes, turned to a vicious, all-very-grifindory pillow war. Any progress with the mattress was instantaneously forgotten after a certain dark, long-haired boy with a crush ‘accidentally’ slammed a pillow into an unsuspecting werewolf. There were two silent seconds. Two seconds, the calm before the storm, where Remus wore the most indescribable expression, slightly gaping at Sirius, eyes fierce and alight, the corners of his mouth slowly creeping up into a grin, before he grasped a pillow and all hell broke loose. What followed were the most exhausting, physically demanding moments all boys would have for the rest of the year - it was pure, merciless chaos. Sirius had taken a very unstructured approach, attacking everyone, screaming as he swung his pillow over his head with no sense of his surroundings, while James just did an absurd amount of twirling trying to knock them out in a helicopter blade sort of way. In complete contrast, Remus took to a defensive, strategic approach, moving swiftly and with purpose, striking only turned backs and unsuspecting body parts.  
It ended in the defeat of Remus and Sirius, simply because James’ endurance and questionable energy outlasted them both. Even after they were down, James was still spinning fast, now holding one pillow in each hand, and somewhere along the lines, he had started roaring like a lunatic. Remus fell flat, pink-cheeked and defeated onto a mattress that padded the floor, followed seconds later by Sirius, after he slammed himself into, then consequently rebounded off the other mattress that was still standing against the wall. James stopped spinning and laughed loudly, with his hair practically on end and glasses slightly lopsided. He stood clutching his battered pillow held high above his head in victory, before whooping and throwing himself with very little dignity between the two of them. They lay there for a good 15 seconds, as a tangle of limbs while the losers tore down the victor.  
“it’s cheating James, you fucker, you had two pillows!”  
“Yeah Remus is right there were no winners you cheat”  
“You guys are just embarrassing yourself - just accept it I won and you both lost, next time try a little strategy - ow!!”  
Sirius kicked James in the calf, before pulling himself out of the pile and offhandedly offering his hand out to Remus.  
“We don’t associate ourselves with ‘cheats’” Sirius spat jokingly, as Remus shook his fluffed up, tawny curls out of his eyes, snickering, and slapped his hand in his. James scoffed, though not without a smile, and leapt onto his feet. All three of them now stood in the middle of the mess somewhat pathetically, their attention finally returned on the mattresses.

Remus POV  
The sun was on its last leg, setting the sky alight in a blended orange-pink hue, minutes before it would darken to black, was illuminating the room - now nicely made and both mattresses parallel thank you very much.  
“James! Come down here!” James' mother called from downstairs.  
James tilted his head back and groaned. He returned his eyes to the scrabble laid out on the floor, this time his name sitting at the bottom of the scoreboard.  
“This might be a while, could have something to do with the wasted lemonade - knew she wouldn’t last long... I’ll be back. Hopefully.” James added as an afterthought.  
Sirius slapped him on the shoulder, a brotherly gesture of good luck.  
James stood and dragged himself out of the room just as Remus laid down an array of letters. Sirius craned his neck, sliding closer to Remus.  
“Avo- aeo okay what the fuck is that.”  
“Aureole,” Remus confirmed, straightening the letters slightly  
“Uhuh... and it means what in Norwegian?”  
“Latin, but it’s used in English thank you, and it’s like a circle of light surrounding something or one.”  
Sirius shifted to lie on his side, propped up by his elbow, and frowned at the board. He huffed exasperatedly before gazing up at Remus with, was it amusement? Remus raised his eyebrows in an attempt to stand his ground, but despite himself, looked away first. Fuck. Heat rushed to his cheeks and he subconsciously tried to cool them with the back on his palms.  
“You’re too good at this. I’m losing by soooo much” Sirius whined as he flopped completely onto his back. He raised his arms and started tracing nothing in particular in the air with his fingers.  
“As long as we can humble James by keeping him in last place, I think you are doing good” as he shifted the board aside and lay beside Sirius, shoulders touching slightly, twisting the ends of his sleeves between his fingers.  
“Maybe... but you put words like Osmium and stuff to do with Latin halos and I put words like toast.”  
Remus laughed and ran his hand through his hair, before turning to watch Sirius a little, and gesture at his weird hand thing he wasn’t even sure if Sirius knew he was doing it.  
“The hell are you doing? Finger ballet?”  
He too raised his arms and playfully mocked him, straightening his fingers and tracing a square above his head.  
“S Q U A R E” Remus spelled out seriously, before turning to look at him with an impish grin, waiting for a retort. Sirius pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, repressing a smile, and grabbed Remus’ stray hands still twisting in the air, wrestling his protests as he pulled them down. He turned to him with unreadable eyes.  
“It’s an art you clearly don’t get. Don’t embarrass yourself."  
Remus hummed thoughtfully, deliberately sounding unconvinced.  
"But isn’t art perceptive? He mused and tried to raise his arms again in an attempt to continue. Sirius’ mouth finally broke into a smile as he reached out to stop Remus' rising arms.  
"What are you now, some scrabble genius and an artist?" he demanded as Remus stopped resisting and let their hands drop.  
"Maybe... I'm a mystery."  
Remus was suddenly tremendously conscious of Sirius' eyes. Specifically, the fact that they were on him. He stared back for a few, beautiful seconds. The darkness of the room resulted in a shade passing over his eyes, highlighting the sharp edges and curves of Sirius’ face. Sirius didn't say anything, only gazed at him, strands of dark, black hair threatening to fall in his eyes. And then he smirked, of course, his smile, stupendous and so, so alive. Remus pulled his arms away and huffed out of frustration more than anything, at the fact that he could feel the heat rising in his face.  
"Yep..."  
Remus started. What?  
"What?" he said aloud this time.  
"You're a mystery" Sirius confirmed, and then in one swift, strong movement leapt up onto his feet.  
Sirius is straight. Remus, is straight. And Remus is a monster. But that's irrelevant because both of them are straight. Clarification is important.  
Remus stood too, realising the sun had set completely and the room was now near dark. He readjusted his sweater out of habit, subconsciously hiding himself and his scars from view. He stepped forward with no real incentive to go anywhere, but it didn't matter because he trodded on the forgotten scrabble board, showering the floor with pebbles of letters. Sirius guffawed, already bending down to pick up the pieces as Remus cursed a bizarre array of old fashioned swear words. Suddenly, James swung into the room, hands holding each side of the doorframe, raised his eyebrows so slightly at the mess on the floor before he beckoned them both down to dinner. They abandoned the mess and followed suit, as James skipped down the hall, informing them cheerily that "all Mum wanted was me to help with dinner" and how "she's 100% forgotten about the lemonade". Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius, who in response grasped his chest in mock relief that James wasn’t in trouble, before stepping out of the room after him, offering his obliged relief to him. Remus obviously hadn't been looking where he was going because he walked straight into the hard edge of the door. He groaned, apologised, and smacked it because he has to get himself together. He finally made it to the dining room where the most extravagant dinner was laid out over the table, silently cursing himself for apologising to a fucking door. Nevermind. He was hungry. And now he was going to eat.

God knows what time it was. Somehow, Remus was so awake. The three boys were sitting on one of the mattresses, Sirius resting his head on Remus' lap while they discussed wild, unrealistic pranks for the coming year, all of them high on impossible possibilities. Somehow their animagus forms were involved.  
"You guys are very illegal, so let me be the voice of reason that you cannot start an animal fashion show in the Slytherin common room starring you guys and only you guys," Remus argued.  
Both Sirius and James dismissively waved the statement away. And then Sirius gasped dramatically, obviously struck by an idea.  
"We can all incorporate our animals into our name, the marauders! Okay, it won't work for all of us, but like, and I'm really funny remember so don't forget to laugh, but I guess James is actually a marauder because he's a deer. You know, so he’s like a marau-deer"  
Sirius looked up at Remus proudly, eyes twinkling, before Remus rolled his own, and shoved his head off his lap while James cheered. At the pun or Remus' removal of the source, no one will ever know. Sirius sat up and gaped at Remus with mock offence, before claiming he “loves James more anyway and that James would never reject him, and James oh lovely James please accept me I need to make him jealous”. James laughed as Sirius lay his head on his lap instead, and only laughed harder as Sirius scrambled to get away from him after 5 seconds, because “don’t you muck up my hair you jackass” and “Remus would NEVER”. He declared he loved Remus much more now he got out and experienced the dark side of the world. It was silent for a couple of seconds, before Remus burst out into warm laughter at the dramatic display, causing Sirius to lose his persona, ducking his head and chortle as James, laughing too, covered his face with his hands. Eventually, they couldn’t hold their eyes open much longer and slowly climbed into their beds. 


	3. Good morning to the day of four friends

Sirius POV:  
James snores jolted him awake. Ah, the fucker. They had forgotten to close the curtains last night, so the entire room was warm and illuminated in the soft honey glow of the sunrise. He sighed and squirmed deeper into the covers. After several minutes of aggressively trying to force sleep upon himself, and failing, he rolled over groggily, his breath hitching sharp and suddenly. Remus was right there. Asleep of course, but he was hanging slightly over the edge of the mattress in a strangely distorted fashion, all covers had been kicked off during the night. His caramel curls were fluffed and ruffled by sleep, and Sirius couldn’t help but simply gaze at this boy, at the precious smattering of freckles and scars across his features. His face rested in a countenance of tranquility, lips parted slightly as he dozed, body still half off the mattress, and so, so close to Sirius’ face. He had to look away. He had to, otherwise, he never will.   
In turn, he looked around at the posters that were around James room. Wow. Much more boring. Although this was only a beach house - a holiday home, James walls were plagued with posters of various bands, quidditch teams, chocolate frog cards, and sunset paintings Sirius suspected he made himself. Well, he lasted about 5 seconds before his eyes landed back on Remus. Ugh. Moony needed to share his dedication a little. 

When he woke again, the room was fully lit and the sun quite high in the sky. Sirius sat up, not remembering ever falling back asleep. After some quick assessing, he realised Remus was no longer in bed, or the room at all, and James was smiling at him, glasses-less and rocking his usual, permanent bed-hair.   
“Morninggg!” James chorused. Sirius grimaced at the pitch.  
“Moony’s in the bathroom.”  
Smile and nod. It’s too early for conversation.  
“You told him yet?”  
His stomach dropped only slightly, as he forgot momentarily that he’d told him.   
“Of course not. I want him to stay around, you know?” Sirius tried at a joke, James only smiling sympathetically.  
“Minutes ago, when he woke up, and you were like right there, somehow very close to him, he got all flustered.” He raised his arm in a gesture to enforce his point.  
”Padfoot, he saw you and had to remove himself because - and you know what I’m gonna say - he feels something about you.”  
“What would you know…” Sirius scoffed and stared at his hands. He did?  
“Shh, I’m literally a romance warlock, making me very knowledgeable on the subject. Expert in the field, some might say.” James said as he stared off majestically into the distance.  
“You? James fleamont potter, a love master?” Sirius said incredulously  
James didn’t remove his gaze from the distance, and nodded his head in modesty, not picking up on the sarcasm. Sirius smirked.  
“You and Lily fit into this how?”  
“Boys!” James’ Mum scolded, standing in the doorway as James swung his pillow at Sirius’ head.  
“Mum! Hi!”   
“Hi, Mrs Potter!”  
“Breakfast is on the table when you’re ready, Peter will be here in an hour or so.”  
She hovered a little like she wanted to say something. James raised his eyebrows quizzically.  
“Who’s Lily?” she said finally, shooting a knowing look at James who grabbed back the pillow had thrown at Sirius so he could bury his face into it. Her lips quivered into a smile.  
“Only James’ unrequited love,” Remus informed her, slipping back into the room, smiling and fully dressed now into dark jeans and a burgundy hoodie.  
Her eyes widened and she pressed her lips together knowingly, before leaving the room.  
James lifted his head, only to close his eyes and flex his hand outwards to Remus because “that was the ultimate betrayal. I’ll never hear the end of it from her now.” Remus simply high fived his outstretched hand then jumped onto the mess of blankets on his mattress. 

Peter arrived in the late morning, little fuss involved as he jumped straight into the quidditch match currently in action. Well, it was just Sirius and James originally because “it was too hot” for Remus, but now with an eager Peter wanting to play, Remus grudgingly grumbled his way towards the broomsticks to even up the teams. However, as soon as he stepped onto the grassy field, his demeanor changed spectacularly fast. Remus jumped onto a team with James and joined him in taunting Sirius and Peter in an attempt to intimidate. Remus’ eyes landed on his own, where Sirius stood slightly dumbfounded as he was smirked at, almost flirtatiously, by the tawny-haired boy, before all four kicked off of the ground, and the game began.   
Oh, it was quite a sight. And quite even, too, with one experienced player and one, well, beginner on each team. Sirius and Peter snatched the quaffle first and were passing rather adequately between themselves before Remus swung himself into the course of the ball and smacked it out of the air. On the surface, it looked like quite a striking move, (Sirius whooped proudly despite being on the opposite team), until Remus lost his balance seconds after, the broom bucking perilously. Still, he was unfazed, laughing slightly crazily, out of nerves probably, as he eventually gained control again. Smiling suited him. Sirius hadn’t even realised he was still and suspended and watching him until James scored a goal. Right. There was no way he and Peter were going to lose another point. This boy, no matter how beautiful, was not going to win.

Oh. So apparently he was.   
Overheated and tired, the boys sat under a tree by the pitch, eating from a plate full of sandwiches that appeared to keep replenishing itself, despite how much they ate.  
“Huh. This must be the same spell Mcgonagal used on the sandwiches she gave us when we missed the feast on the first day of 4th year” Peter offered as an observation.  
“Oh yeah! That time we put dungbombs in the boats for the first years that went off when they were in the middle of the lake” James recounted, resulting in all four of them laughing fondly at the memory.   
“I hope our kids carry on our legacy, you know, pull off something legendary, and end up in old Mcgonagall's office eating through a pile of neverending sandwiches,” James stated rather randomly.   
“Fuck yeah, I would be one proud uncle” Sirius laughed, smile only faltering slightly as he became conscious of 3 pairs of quizzical eyes on him.  
“What? There’s no way in hell I’m having kids. I’ll just be the cool uncle who has the motorbike they can ride, with no rules and who gives irreplaceable advice, and you bet I’ll give the best birthday presents.”  
That seemed to be enough clarification.  
“The motorbike better not fly. If my kid wants to fly a vehicle somewhere it has to be a car, because of the outer shell of protection.” James reasoned as though it were obvious. Sirius’ eyes sparkled. He hadn’t thought about making it fly.   
“Of all things to be strict about, of course, it's their choice of flying transport. I see you’re maturing well.” Remus shook his head.  
“Oi, I’m going to be a great parent, strict about real things too! And it’s not like they will be flying to Hogwarts or anywhere far, just generally for a little adventure.” He gestured at nothing and helped himself to another sandwich.   
“Besides,” he said, mouth stuffed with food, face screwed up as he tried to swallow quickly. “Their first flight in anything will be on a broomstick. And if they want to, they’ll play quidditch and be fucking legendary at it.”  
“You have this extremely well thought out.” Sirius raised his eyebrows.   
“Yeah actually why am I the only one. Pete?” missing Sirius’ hint at a tease completely  
Peter shrugged, shifting uncomfortably at the eyes on him, grabbing another sandwich and choked it down.  
“Haven foht bout et” He said, words muffled with chews.   
“Re?”  
Sirius turned to him suddenly extremely curious. Remus actually laughed.  
“I’m a monster, things like us don’t breed. Or get jobs. So maybe like a muggle gardener or something dunno really” He was still laughing, though his voice was strained, something Sirius couldn't miss if he tried. Remus looked down, a heated blush rising in his cheeks as they all punched down his comment with reassurances and that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t evade his inevitable future as a teacher. He waved them away, pulling the most scarily believable poker face. Sirius felt his discomfort as his own and spoke to change the subject.  
“Shall we resume the game?”  
“Ah yes, ready to be defeated yet again?” James jeered playfully. All these wins were getting to him.   
“I’ll take the plate back,” Remus offered, standing and walking back towards the house.  
“You guys start the game, Pete I’m counting on you.” Sirius urged, flashing him encouraging ‘thumbs up’, as he turned and stepped into pace with Remus. He stuffed his hands in his jeans and bumped his shoulder against him as they stepped inside. The heat of the sun was relieved as soon as they did so. Remus smiled a small, weak smile and placed the plate on the counter. As he did so, his eyes widened as the icy coolness of the tile surface, bending over and pressing his forehead to it. Sirius jumped to join him, expressing his relief in a “yaaaaaasssss”, warming inside a little at Remus’ small snigger. They both straightened, and Sirius was physically pained by Remus' expression. Just as he opened his mouth, not even sure what he was going to say, someone else spoke.   
“You boys should go to the beach!” they both jumped slightly as Mrs Potter walked into the room, smiling at them as she placed some books she was carrying on the counter with a thud.   
“Pride and prejudice!” Remus exclaimed keenly at the book on the top of the pile. Mrs Potter looked pleasantly surprised, probably pleased that James acquired at least one educated friend. Sirius knew where this was going, so he inserted himself into the conversation before they started discussing character complexes for the next 3 days.   
“The beach! I forgot we were even near a beach.” A lie. You can see, smell and hear it from the house.   
“Re, I can’t even swim either” Sirius reassured, easing Remus’ reproachful expression,   
“We can just jump over the waves like children,” he concluded enthusiastically, looking back at Mrs Potter.   
“Yes, you can’t stay here and call it a holiday if you don’t go to the beach! You guys go straight down, I’ll fetch the other two and send them down with all the gear and everything.” Mrs Potter organised, already in action.   
Sirius turned and grinned widely, before turning and breaking into a gaily skip towards the hallway and then the door, loudly beckoning at Remus to follow.


	4. Good afternoon to the day of two friends, and two who are more

It took 1 minute to get there. They stepped onto the soft, unblemished sand and had to stop for just a second to breathe in the refreshing salty air, and the sound of the turbulent, churning waves crashing onto the shore. Happiness tingled in Sirius’ fingertips as he stared out to the line where blue met blue.  
Without truly thinking, without real consideration, without a single rational, calculating thought, he seized Remus by the hand and started pulling him towards the ocean. Remus came willingly, running so fast that he was now the one pulling Sirius. Their footsteps chased each other, so light and free it was almost as if the wind was carrying them forwards. The air became laced with laughter and the sound of whimsical splashes as they reached where the sea met the sand. The water swirled, strong and relentlessly at their ankles, as if it were beckoning them deeper. Sirius fixed his gaze on Remus, all guard falling as he found himself utterly encapsulated by him - his eyes that were shaped with mystery and emotion, his hair that looked like coils of melted bronze, his smile that illuminated his entire being. Sirius fought the voice of survival that was screaming to pull away, and grabbed his other hand, leading him in deeper. This could ruin everything. This wasn’t what friends do. But this was what he wanted. Dare he think it, Remus didn’t mind.  
“Siri, I can’t swim either, do you want to die?”  
The breeze whipped playfully at his perfect hair. Teasing. Coaxing.  
“I lied - I can totally swim so if you start drowning I’ll dive right in and save your clumsy ass.”  
“Was that supposed to be reassuring?” Remus yelled, eyebrows furrowed incredulously as the water was now up to their knees. An icy wave of water and foam crashed into them, their grasping hands being the only thing holding them upright.  
“It’ll be fine! C’mon!”, Sirius cooed, his whole body charged with joy as he pulled Remus through another burly wave, the strength of them getting stronger the deeper they got.  
“Let’s jump the next one!”  
Remus nodded chaotically, reassembling himself. They were both drenched from the waist down, but neither of them showed a flicker of care for the dryness of their clothes. The wave only bowled straight into them, dunking them both under, neither of them having jumped at the right time or height. Remus pushed his hair out of his eyes wildly, looking at Sirius for just a second, before announcing to the world they would do it “AGAIN!”. Sirius repeated him, just as loud, just as impulsively, and they stood braced for the next wave.

Remus POV:  
The wind was warm, the water icy cold. Sirius’ smile was bright and enchanting. They jumped over the wave, actually making it over upright. Remus laughed as Sirius cheered in triumph. They both pulled together, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, as they waited for the next wave. Happiness danced behind those grey eyes, aside from something else he couldn’t quite place as they turned from facing forwards to face him. His smile was perfect, so irresistible and bright. Remus just had to meet it with his own. He had to kiss him. Right before the wave came.

Sirius POV:  
The world stopped. Every fucking atom, every particle on this planet froze as Remus Lupin pulled Sirius in by the collar and pressed his mouth to his. A wave hurtled into them just as their lips collided, spraying the air around with its salty tang, fabricating its own watery aureole. It was, frankly, a kiss of honey - a true kiss that warmed the icy fingertips of each. It was electrical, a fervent moment of vulnerability and passion. Sirius reciprocated immediately, hands gripping his drenched tousled hair. This was it. His knees weakened. This was all he would ever need. The world could implode, explode, all be a hoax for all he gave a shit, and it would all be okay if this moment stayed true. 

Remus POV:  
Remus’ life erupted into vibrant fireworks as Sirius kissed him back, held him back. His hands fisted in Sirius’ wind-battered hair. It was sugar sweet, it was desperation and the release of years of build-up. The atmosphere lightened, all breath let go, all knotted nerves and fizzing feelings suddenly liberated, pale in comparison to this feeling, right here, right now, with Sirius’ lips on his, kissing his smile. Fuck denial, he was in love. Fuck sins, this felt anything but wrong. 

Sirius POV:  
Another wave cannoned into them, but they stood rooted and certain. Sirius pulled away. He had to check, he had to search those eyes for a hint of regret or lie, hands sliding from his hair to grip his shoulders. All he saw was a reflection of his feelings, tender and whole. To exist with him was stupendous.  
“You - you sure?”  
Sirius felt his eyes roll as those words slipped through Remus’ lips. He pulled him in this time to an earnest, bear-like embrace that expressed a level of reassurance words could never match. Remus hugged him back, his grasp strong and longing. Sirius knew this was big. His family, his morals, the things that will be said are now going through the motion of change. This could be dangerous.  
“I can’t believe that happened...” Remus whispered into his ear, his words hushed and breathy. He was trembling. Sirius gripped his shoulder tighter, trying to say what he couldn’t.  
“I can’t believe that happened!” Sirius croaked wildly, not proud of how high and slightly squeaky his voice had gotten. He decided to feel embarrassed about that later.  
Remus pulled back, another wave crashing into them, and looked at him with a slightly quivering chin. Amber eyes locked with grey ones as yet another wave pummeled into them.  
Remus looked out to the horizon.  
Sirius reached, up, fingertips brushing Remus cheek before he gently pulled his chin so their eyes met again. He could see his eyes starting to swim with doubt, calculating where this was gonna go. The uncertainty frightened Sirius.  
“I know the world is going to hate it. But fuck the world.” Sirius whispered. Quietly maybe, but his words were voluminous.  
Remus’ eyebrows furrowed and Sirius felt his heart plunge into darkest ice. But only for the smallest second, a second of virtually nothing, because in a fraction of a moment, Remus had tugged Sirius closer. An action with a statement, like it was the final lock-in - he was standing for them, he believed in them. Grey eyes locked with amber, the latter staring intensely into his eyes, grinning and a tear running down his cheek that started to streak sideways from the wind.  
“Fuck the world.” Remus breathed as his eyes widened slightly.  
Sirius looked at him, his black hair clinging to his face. He didn’t shake it away. He would not let his eyes leave Remus. What a blessed revolution, the clockwork in their lives already changing. They both laughed, sonorous and lovely laughter that filled the air, catching onto the wind and being swept away where so one else would ever hear, because it was theirs. It was their laughter, their love and their moment, and other people would find their own. But for now, they will dance in the wind, tackle each other into waves and grasp each other's hands in the swirling current of the ocean because this is it for them, and it genuinely, genuinely, couldn’t be better. 

-After-  
“You blithering lunatics! What are - what are you doing with all your clothes on?!”  
James had one hand cupping his cheek in calling from the shore while he battled a difficult war with the other and a beach umbrella that looked like it wanted to abandon the planet, ride the wind and chase the clouds. Peter did make a respectable effort in helping, before declaring a very sad loss of the umbrella as though it was already a lost cause, and he too splashed into the ocean fully clothed to join them. James turned and gaped in consuming disbelief at the betrayal, and maybe Peters’ uncharacteristic impulsiveness, before finally wrestling the tip of the umbrella into the wet sand and followed, whopping at either his accomplishment or excitement of the sea as he charged through the waves towards where Sirius and Remus were situated. When they reached them, Sirius knew James knew. It was written all over their faces. Also, he could never confuse anything for James’ signature proud-mama feels. Undoubtedly, with a little push from James, Peter would piece it together soon too. Remus hadn’t missed these either, and though he wore a humoured expression of suspicion at James' sudden realisation and reaction, he ducked his head in a grin as James pulled them both into a hug, and gripped them with a gleeful, slightly drawling statement of “A-bout time...”. Why did he have absolutely no control over his fucking tear ducts?  
Year 6, here they come.


End file.
